Trumbull News Detail

Kent State College of Business Administration Alumnus to Speak at the Michael D. Solomon Speaker Series

Posted Mar. 24, 2014

James S. Besselman, Kent State
University alumnus and vice president of
sales for the Enterprise Solutions Group,
will speak at the Michael D. Solomon Speaker
Series on April 9 at 7 p.m. at the Kent State
Hotel and Conference Center.

Kent State University alumnus James S. Besselman will speak at the Michael D. Solomon Speaker Series on the topic “Serial Entrepreneurship: Reflections and Life Lessons” on April 9 at 7 p.m. at the Kent State Hotel and Conference Center.

Currently the vice president of sales for the Enterprise Solutions Group, Besselman was raised in Canton, Ohio, in a family of working-class entrepreneurs.

“I knew from a young age the unique opportunity our country offers to start and own your own business,” Besselman says.

Besselman graduated from Kent State in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in business administration after serving as president of the Collegiate Marketing Association. He decided that the growing computer software industry was the best place to begin his career.

Besselman has worked globally for large companies such as Oracle, IBM and Baan, but he also has sought out and been involved with seven software start-ups, including his own, for which he was named Business Person of the local Chamber of Commerce.

“My true joy is to leverage vision in understanding new emerging technologies, then drive value for people and businesses, enabling them to better compete in the fast-moving global economy,” he says.

Besselman will discuss his lessons learned in his career so far in establishing, growing, taking public and selling computer software businesses.

"We are very excited to have an alumnus return to Kent State and share his entrepreneurial successes, failures and everything in between,” says Mary Heidler, operations manager for the Kent State College of Business Administration’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation. “The Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation is honored to have Mr. Besselman educate and inspire our current and next generation of entrepreneurs."

The Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation is designed to reach out to Kent State and its Regional Campuses to fully immerse students in entrepreneurship from their first day through graduation; to help them develop entrepreneurial skills and an entrepreneurial mindset by offering innovative, experiential learning opportunities; and to foster relationships between the university and business communities. The Michael D. Solomon Speaker Series is just one way the center strives to reach its goal.

Kent State alumnus Michael D. Solomon has supported the speaker program since its first lecture in 2001 and designed the series to expose students and community members to successful entrepreneurs. The series brings experienced entrepreneurs and educators on campus each semester to share their insights and wisdom.